Tags:
Journalism of Courage
His crumpled suit and polished shoes sum up the films he produces. Aesthetics and a good script combined with good business acumen. That is Bobby Bedi, producer of films such as Bandit Queen, Fire, Electric Moon. Films that have seen Indian Cinema breach new frontiers as far as independent film-making goes.
“It is a business like any other. We are not here for charity. I need to make money so that I can make more films,” says Bedi. So how did this all come about. “Way back in the 80s, I was working with Philips India Ltd. One day a friend came up with an idea to start producing films and I joined up.”
Bedi liked the film because the script appealed to him. A trait that has always made him support the films he finance. “That is where our films fail. One thing that is missing in the film industry is the script. Our films rarely have a script. No story to tell. Film-making is all about how well you tell a good story. There is a way of telling those stories. And we fail in telling stories.”
The association with Roy and Kishen continued into Electric Moon, a film that was small in scope like the first one, but “a good script, well told,” as Bedi puts it.
To him cinema is the “biggest voice” that reaches out to the greatest number. A fact that creates a lot of excitement for Bedi. “A lot changed with Bandit Queen. It was a film that told a simple story of a woman in a small village with international trappings. Because the manner in which the story is depicted gives a film an international audience.”
With Bandit Queen, Shekhar Kapoor moved westwards and ended up doing Elizabeth proving that Bedi had backed the right man. But he is not too happy with the way Fire turned out to be. “It could have been a more complete film than what it is.” The film, according to Bedi, could have been tighter. Not that he is complaining, since the films have done well.
“Let us not get into classifications of mainstream cinema and art films. I do not produce art films if we can call it that,” he says. Because selling the film is as important as making a good film. “There is a huge market abroad waiting to be tapped. With so many Indians abroad, they form a very lucrative segment themselves. And critically, the films have been very well received abroad.”
A little more hardsell and Indian films could very well give Hollywood a little nudge if not a run for its money. With independent films springing up, and producers like Bedi chipping in, Indian cinema could easily go places.
